"Despite
its reputation as a solitary animal, the domestic cat is social
enough to form colonies,
but does not attack in groups as lions
do. While each cat holds a distinct territory (sexually active males
having the largest territories, and neutered cats having the
smallest), there are "neutral" areas where cats watch and
greet one another without territorial conflicts. Outside these
neutral areas, territory holders usually aggressively chase away
stranger cats, at first by staring, hissing, and growling, and if
that does not work, by short but noisy and violent attacks. Fighting
cats
make themselves appear more impressive and threatening by raising
their fur and arching their backs, thus increasing their visual size.
Cats also behave this way while playing. Attacks usually comprise
powerful slaps to the face and body with the forepaws as well as
bites, but serious damage is rare; usually the loser runs away with
little more than a few scratches to the face, and perhaps the ears.

Domestic
cats have been known to protect their territories (dwellings) even to
the extent of attacking human
intruders,
although less often and less reliably than dogs."

-
Wiki's guide to cat domesitcation.

The woman, at first, seemed
gracious enough to allow them an exclusive tour of the shop. They
went shopping for frames; picture frames that had been used over and
over again, stuffed up in storages. Most of them weren't broken and
some actulley looked quite nice, all with their flowers and pattens
and wood carvings. Some had teddy bears hugging the picture, some had
Christian angels and some had lilacs and all these frilly things and
God, he was bored.

But
Kubo-chan insisted, and having no suitable or free frames at his own
disposal, had asked for Tokitoh to help him pick one out. Quite
frankly, they all looked the same to him. Square. Brightly colored.
All of them...

The
woman was nice. She smelled like indoor swampmeet perfume and cold
milk. Tokitoh scrunched up his face and scowled when she offered her
assistance. Kubo-chan was polite in his decline but she insisted
and here they were, in this little back room with all these
picture frames.

He
opened his mouth widely in a silent groan. Kubo-chan was (probably
faking) 'engrossed' in the woman's little selection she had picked
out. Tokitoh was behind them, eyeing every dusty nook and crany.

Thats
when he noticed her arm, and how it just, kinda, slipped against
Kubo-chan's.

Her
shoulder brushed against Kubo-chan's, so very gentle, a little bump.
The woman laughed distantly, a remark of Kubo-chan's that wasn't even
meant to be funny.

Tokitoh's
lips tightened and he stared in utter fasination as her chin drew
forward, her neck arched so slightly and she smiled with petal pink
lips.

Kubo-chan
was too busy examining a silver frame to notice her advances, that or
he didn't seem to mind. Her large eyes drew towards the frame and her
hip meet Kubo-chan's with a small shove, so carefully...

"...ssssss..."

The
woman blinked and looked over his shoulder. "Excuse me?"

Tokitoh
wasn't hissing. Because he wasn't a goddamn cat. No, his hair wasn't
bristling, standing up in the back of his neck. His shoulders weren't
raised in irritation and his eyebrows weren't drawn together. His
spine wasn't tingling and his hand wasn't clawing the table behind
him, knuckles tight against the leather of the glove.

He
wasn't a cat.

"Ssssssss..."

The
woman looked a little...pale.

----------------------------------------------------

So,
they left. Kubo-chan cradled his frame in his arms, a pleasant look
on his face. He glanced at the smaller man beside him and a small,
delighted smile graced his lips. "So, might I ask what that was
all about?"

Tokitoh
growled and turned away. "Shut up."

------------

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